Earlier this week former PGA Tour pro and current CBS’ on-course reporter Colt Knost relayed that his request to regain amateur status was denied. That process has become a lightning rod in recent years, as there are those in the sport that believe former pros dominating amateurs—many with actual 9-to-5 jobs—in prestigious amateur events defeats the spirit of the game. Last year’s U.S. Mid-Am was a flashpoint, with six of the quarterfinalists being former pros, and this week’s U.S. Senior Am provided more evidence to the cause: all four semi-finalists were pros and the competition was won by Mike Sposa, who’s logged over 330 career appearances on the PGA Tour and Nike (now Korn Ferry) circuit. There has been talk behind the scenes that the USGA will no longer be so relaxed when it comes to reinstatement; between Knost’s appeal, and the Senior Am results, that outcome could be happening soon.

Ivy Shepherd topped Catherine McEvoy, 5 and 4, to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and Mike Sposa beat Todd White, 3 and 2, to win the U.S. Senior Amateur in a battle of Spartanburg, S.C., neighbors. Shepherd, 26, was playing in her first Women’s Mid-Am and tied for first in stroke-play qualifying. The Georgia native was only 1 up after six holes, but the match was over eight holes later, on the par-4 14th at Montclair Golf Club in New Jersey. In the Senior Amateur championship match at Baltimore Country Club, Sposa, a 57-year-old who played on the PGA Tour and won a Nike Tour event, was 4 up after seven holes and held on to top White on the 16th hole when they both made par.

Starting Saturday, the 51st Walker Cup will kick off at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland, and the home team, Great Britain & Ireland, will be trying to win for the first time since 2015. Earlier, our Jamie Kennedy explored whether the Irish course will give them the advantage they need, but now they seem to have a new ally: A stomach bug. According to Golf Channel's Brentley Romine, illness kept two American players from practicing on Thursday, Oklahoma State's Ethan Fang and Alabama's William Jennings. The U.S. captain, Nathan Smith, said they're "good to go," but then again, that's what you would say, isn't it? As Romine noted, this seems to be a common theme: a stomach bug hit 16 different players at the 2021 Walker Cup, requiring alternates to swap in, and some players had to visit the ER. And at the Rome Ryder Cup in 2023, members of the American team contracted a mysterious illness before enduring a thumping from Europe. Hopefully, for the sake of competition, everybody will be ready to play at Lahinch on Saturday, but now the Americans have a built-in excuse if things go wrong for the first time in a decade.

The move was expected, as the Hilton Head stop has been a part of the tour’s signature/elevated series and RBC had re-upped as a title sponsor last year. For those keeping score, Heritage joins the Truist Championship, Cadillac Championship at Doral, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial, the Sentry, the GO by Raymond James (formerly the Wyndham) and a new stop sponsored by Sompo (likely to be in the Seattle area). The only two current signature events that have not been named to the tour's new top-tiered system are the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational, although those tournaments are expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks. That would leave two open spots, one of which is envisioned to be the BMW Championship returning to the Chicago area. Among candidates for the final spot, the WM Phoenix Open is envisioned to be the front-runner. The tour has expressed interest in having its two-week match play playoff at prestigious venues, ideally in big markets.

I'm sure many of you can relate to the phenomenon of having an Instagram "for you" page that is full of mostly just golf tips and drills (and food). I can't tell you how many drills / tips I see that I think "hmm, that might work for me," and then I completely forget about them and continue with my own bad habits. 

During a round last week, about halfway through, I randomly remembered a video I saw of a Brad Faxon putting method. I hadn't made any on the front nine and thought, why not, let's try this. In the three rounds I've played since, the hole feels as big as the ocean. Faxon is big on letting your natural athleticism take over when you putt, and I'm at my worst when I'm standing over the ball too long, thinking too much and getting too technical. This video might help solve that same issue for you:

The major key here, for me, is beginning your stroke immediately after that second look. I've done away with practice strokes entirely when putting, so I was kind of already doing a version of this by getting over it and looking at the hole once or twice before beginning the stroke. But where I'd always get tripped up is standing over it too long over the last look. Fidgeting... thinking ... twitching. Starting your back stroke RIGHT after that second look alleviates that. 

Of course, putting is the most fickle part of the game, and now that I've pointed out that I've been making putts recently, I'm likely going to go for 36 putts my next round out. But when you see something, say something. This is working for me right now. Maybe it can work for you, too. 

Back in March, just minutes after Tiger Woods rolled his SUV with hydrocodone pills in his pocket and declined a urine test, he placed a phone call. As he told Jupiter police at the time, it was to the President of the United States of America.

In a strange way, that began the political involvement of two of the republican party's most powerful figures—President Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis—who both took time out of their schedules on Wednesday to sound off on Woods' DUI plea deal.

Though Trump accused Woods' back surgeon as being a "bad doctor," he felt the deal was a good one, saying "I thought it was very fair. I told him that a long time ago, why don't you get someone to drive you?" Woods is currently dating Trump's former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump.

Meanwhile, DeSantis took to X after the Florida state attorney who orchestrated the Woods deal went viral for not knowing whether the 15-time major champion would be allowed to drive a golf cart. According to DeSantis, Woods "should" be able operate a golf cart while on the course. Well, that clears that up ... we think?

As we've learned many times through the years, even the best players on the planet aren't immune to having their clubs mishandled. In this case, it's 2024 Farmers Insurance Open winner Matthieu Pavon, who has been without his sticks for three days. And, not surprisingly, he's not thrilled about it as he sent this message to Air France:

Fortunately for Pavon, his previous tweet stated that his next tournament wasn't until the first event of the PGA Tour fall series, which starts in a couple weeks at the new Biltmore Championship in Asheville, NC. Still, we wish him luck being reunited soon with his prized possessions. 

I am, and I’ve already noticed a discrepancy between the balls I hit mindlessly into the net in my backyard, and when playing for real. One comes relatively easy, the other is still awkward. None of this should be a surprise, especially to me. In a recent Mind Games video, I discussed one of the essential ingredients of good golf practice, which is stress. In order to ingrain a new pattern effectively, golfers eventually need to do so in an environment that most closely resembles real competition. For what it’s worth, our Stress Tests platform is a collection of practice games designed for this very purpose.

with the USGA wrapping up the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in New Jersey and the U.S. Senior Amateur in Maryland. In the former at Montclair Golf Club, co-medalist Ivy Shepard faces Catherine McEvoy. Shepherd, a 26-year-old assistant women’s coach at Indiana, is playing in her first Women’s Mid-Am while McEvoy, 28, is playing for the fourth time. McEvoy overcame a 4-down deficit in her third-round match then trailed 3-down in her quarterfinal match. The winner earns a spot into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open. In the Senior Am at Baltimore C.C.’s East Course, finalists Todd White and Mike Sposa both hail from Spartanburg, S.C., They’re also both reinstated amateurs, as were the golfers they beat in the semifinals. Both championship finals are 18-hole affairs.

The designer was driving to the GPS coordinates to meet Scott Kovanda and James Housler, the co-founders of the new Frontier Club. Hanse passed parcel after parcel of rolling farmland outside Ann Arbor, Mich., and he loved what he saw.

"When we got out on the property, we kind of got into the wooded sections and it was a little bit more difficult to tell," Hanse told me. "And then we popped out into one of those big fields that I was hoping it was, and it was. And then we popped out into another big field that I hadn't seen before that had all these big rolls.”

Hanse's newest project has plans to open in 2028. It's the latest private destination club being built, but this is unique, being so close to one of the country's biggest college campuses. Watch the video below for more—and read my article with more details.